Friday, 28 April 2017

Local business driving support for Culture Bid

SUNDERLAND’s City of Culture Bid is hoping its on the
road to success, after gaining the backing of yet another high profile
supporter.

The Pulman Group, which has four garages across
Sunderland and Durham, will be displaying three City of Culture branded cars,
adorned with Sunderland 2021’s distinctive colours, in an effort to raise
awareness of the city’s bid to scoop the crown in the hotly-anticipated
competition.

Strategically placed at Pulman’s showrooms, it is
hoped the cars will attract attention and act as a conversation-starter, as the
submission date for the bid draws ever closer.

Chris Slater, Communications Manager at Pulman, said:
“We are incredibly proud to be able to support the bid. Hundreds of people pass
our showrooms every day, so we know that having a presence like this will
increase visibility of the bid and hopefully get people excited about
Sunderland 2021 and what it could mean for the city.

“We have been in Sunderland for nearly ten years, and
employ a lot of people from here, so we really do care about the city and would
love to see it succeed – not only for the people of Sunderland, but for the
whole region. It is great – as a local
business - to show our support for the bid and hopefully help with this final
push before the first stage of the competition begins.”

He added: “The changes in Sunderland are already
visible and there is so much investment being ploughed into the city. Anything
we can do to further that progression can only be a good thing, and winning
City of Culture 2021 would provide the impetus for more growth.”

The first stage of the bid is to be submitted on April
28, with the winner announced later in the year.

Sunderland
is up against Coventry,
Hereford, Paisley, Perth, Portsmouth, St Davids, Stoke, Swansea, Warrington and
Wells, so every bit of support counts.

Rebecca Ball, director of Sunderland 2021,
said: “This is a phenomenal display of support from Pulman Group and we are
incredibly grateful to them for getting behind us and helping us to spread the
word about this bid. Three branded cars showing Sunderland 2021’s colours is a
sure-fire way to get noticed and will hopefully give us a final push before the
bid is submitted this month.

“The competition is fierce and we have to
demonstrate that we have a groundswell of support for our bid, not only
locally, but regionally. Having local businesses showing such visible signs of
support is of paramount importance and the more local businesses behind us, the
more the judges will see just how much we all want this. It’s not too late to
show your support.”

Winning City of Culture status could do wonders for Sunderland’s economy, as it can
deliver a multi-million-pound boost for the successful city. It is estimated that this year’s City of
Culture, Hull, will see an extra £60 million to its economy. The city
has already seen a £1 billion boost in investment since being announced as the winner
of the title in 2013.